Mikaela was trapped. She had let it slip during one of her new body's therapy sessions that she was not herself. She admitted she was a man trapped in a woman's body, and that she was a male elephant named David. She insisted, and when she got violent she felt a needle in her neck.

That was the last she had seen of anyone. She was trapped in a foreign body, wrapped in a straightjacket, and forced to endure drug treatments and psychotherapy. She was left in her cell for hours and hours, having nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company. "Ashley won't let me stay here. He'll come get me. I just have to hold on."

The doctor kept insisting she was Mikaela, not his original body's name. She knew that they did not know what had happened to her and would never believe it. Somehow she had to make them believe that she was a female platypus and always had been. Having the memories of a male elephant, that was going to be hard. She had to remember her family, her job, everything she could to get out of this place. Being female was maddening enough, but to be trapped like this was even worse.

She had to convince the doc she was Mikaela, if only to be free again. She missed Ashley, and missed her freedom, more than her body. How ironic. She laughed as she realized she'd give anything for freedom, even stay in this body forever.

Art by zerohenry